Educating for a culture of peace on a small island : Gozo

Abstract

Peace is a state without which there cannot be true happiness. It is a process which sustains development. Educators should endevour to acknowledge the value of peace education and demonstrate how important it is for it to be taught as early as kindergarten level. This dissertation focuses on peace education , its relevance in our classrooms and the positive results its teaching should bring about. To this end this document investigates the Social Studies Curricula of Year 4 to 6 of the Primary Schools and Forms I to III of the Secondary Schools. This is supported with a wide range of suggestions and ideas resulting from the questionnaire administered to parents and teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools both State and Private in Gozo. These views can be implemented by teachers to meet specific classroom situations. The questionnaire aimed at determining the teachers' and parents' attitude regarding the teaching of Peace Education in schools, and its relevance at all levels of education in Gozo. Educators seemed to agree about the importance of peace education as a means of assessing relationships within society and in providing children with the necessary skills for community living. Both parents and teachers regret that such an elementary issue is not given enough importance in Social Studies not withstanding its vast syllabus.